


Enjoy The Silence

by dreamlikeachild



Series: Musical Klaine One-Shots [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Blaine is in Lima, Crying, Fluff, Kurt is in New York, M/M, Post-Episode S4E18 Shooting Star, just ... it's sad, they also sing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25666783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamlikeachild/pseuds/dreamlikeachild
Summary: After hearing about the school shooting, Kurt calls Blaine to see if he's alright. [Post S4E18 Shooting Star]
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce
Series: Musical Klaine One-Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861063
Kudos: 29





	Enjoy The Silence

Everything was quiet. Since they had gotten off the phone with Tina, Kurt and his friends had barely spoken. Normally, their evenings were filled with buzzing conversations about what they had been up to all day, with laughter, song, dance and glee. Not that day. It was like the whole apartment had been put on silent like a phone in a movie theatre. Only the phone was Kurt’s everyday life and the movie was playing in Lima, Ohio, roughly six hundred miles away.

Six hundred miles. The distance seemed like the world to Kurt.

His day had been normal, almost painfully, provocatively so. Waking up way too early. Deciding what to wear. Hairstyling. A small breakfast on the way to school. Attending his acting and singing classes at NYADA. Going shopping for this day’s dinner, it had been his turn to cook. Then, at the dinner table, meeting up with Rachel and Santana. Impressing them with his white wine salmon and spinach lasagna. And there, in the middle of the meal, Rachels phone began to ring.

“Oh, it’s Tina! It’s Tina!” She’d shouted in her signature high pitch after taking a quick glance at the display.

“Mm, put it on speaker.” Santana demanded; her mouth half full. She knew to conceal her excitement a better than Rachel. (Not that she fooled anyone. Rachel and Kurt knew Santana _lived_ for Tina’s calls, because they were the only occasions when she got to hear from her ex-girlfriend Brittany.)

“Okay, okay.” Rachel accepted the conversation and activated the speakers.

Tina’s calls were usually the highlights of Kurt’s, Rachel’s and Santana’s evenings. She provided them with the necessary amount of gossip from McKinley High, told them news about Glee club and delivered greetings from their mutual friends (and regularly also more or less cryptic messages from Lord Tubbington, Brittany’s cat). Speaking to Tina was a link to the past, a past that all three of them missed with all their heart. And because of that, they never missed one of her calls.

“Hiiii, Tina!” Kurt shouted, a bright smile on his lips.

Rachel’s voice sounded just as joyful. “It’s all three of us, how are you doing?!”

There was a short moment of silence at the other end of the line. Very unusual for the bubbly Tina. Normally she couldn’t wait to blurt out everything that had been happening. Kurt, Rachel and Santana shared a quick confused look.

Then, someone sniffled. “H-hi guys.” Tina said.

“Are you alright?” Rachel asked, gripping the phone.

“Not really.” Tina’s voice was still a tad shaky.

Santana leaned forward. “What happened, do you wanna talk about it?” She asked softly. (Santana speaking softly was the second unusual thing that happened this evening, but an unimportant one, as it turned out.)

“Wait. No one has called you yet?” Tina asked. “Santana, Brittany hasn’t talked to you? And Blaine not to you, Kurt?”

“Why would Britt talk to me, we’re broken up.” Santana answered, sounding just as confused as Tina, and a little angry as well.

“Blaine and I are also broken up.” Kurt said, the words coming out of his mouth even though he didn’t really want them to.

“Yeah, I know.” Tina’s voice switched to sad again. “I just didn’t think I would be the one breaking the news to you.”

“What news?” Rachel asked.

“Wait, is someone pregnant again?” Santana wanted to know.

“Shut up!” Kurt said, eyeing her disapprovingly. Tina sounded too upset for a dump pregnancy. Unless … she herself was pregnant. Wait, but who would be the father then? Not Blaine, right? Kurt knew she had been crushing on him lately, but … no. No way. Blaine was a hundred percent gay. He had kissed Rachel (twice!) and had not fallen for her. How many guys could say that?

Tina’s next sentence interrupted Kurt’s thoughts in an almost brutal manner. It was a simple sentence, but one he thought he’d never get to hear in his life. 

“There was a shooting at school today.”

The phone almost slid out of Rachel’s hands.

“Oh God.” Kurt covered his mouth with his hands, suppressing the sudden urge to throw up.

Santana went pale and gripped the edge of the table. “Is … is someone hurt?” She choked out.

“No.” Tina’s voice began to tremble again. “Everyone’s f-fine. We-we just heard g-gunshots and then everyone started running and s-screaming and …” She started to cry, the words sputtering out of her mouth. “It was so horrible, I-I was late to Glee practice and everyone else but me was in the choir room and they had to hide and Brittany was trapped in the t-toilets and–“

Santana got off of her chair so abruptly it toppled to the ground. Without another word she turned around and fled to her room, stifling her sobs with the back of her hand.

Rachel was crying as well, tears running down her cheeks. She said something to Tina, and Kurt wasn’t sure whether she was whispering or he was fading out, but everything seemed to become quieter and quieter until the apartment went completely silent.

Sometime later, Rachel ended the call and leaned towards Kurt to hug him tightly. He hugged her back, and they embraced each other, knowing full well that it was not what either of them needed right now. Then, Rachel drank a glass of water and locked herself in her room.

A few minutes after that, Santana came out of hers. She put on her coat and told Kurt she was going for a walk. That was the first thing she said. The second thing was: “Call Blaine.”

Kurt was still sitting at the dinner table. Alone, only accompanied by the strange and unusual silence that filled the room like thick fog. It seemed to suppress the light, the warmth, the comfort Kurt usually felt within the walls of his home.

He wrapped his arms around himself and stared off into the distance. Everything was quiet.

\---

Eventually, he gave up. He went to grab his phone and sat down on the couch, dialing Blaine’s number blindly and from memory. His lips were trembling, almost whispering his ex-boyfriend’s name. With every second he waited for him to pick up, Kurt’s heart sunk. Until, finally, a voice reached his ear, a voice that chased away the silence.

“Kurt?” Blaine sounded like he had been crying.

Kurt’s lips were now shaking even more than before. He tried to force a steady “Hi” but what came out instead was a mixture of a sigh and a sob.

“Kurt, are you there?” 

Blaine’s voice, even though a bit breathy, was like velvet, brushing softly over Kurt’s cheeks that – he realized only now – were wet from tears. He wanted to say something, but again, he wasn’t able to form words.

“It’s me, Blaine. Are you alright, Kurt?”

“Am _I_ alright?” Kurt blurted out, still tearing up. “I’m fine, Blaine. But what about you? What happened? Why didn’t you call me? I know were not together anymore, but you know you can still call me whenever, right? Even in the middle of the night, I don’t care! How come I only heard about this now from Tina? And what happened? Please tell me everyone is okay. How are you feeling?”It took Kurt a while to manage to stop the literal river of words coming out of his mouth.

“Oh, Kurt.” Blaine breathed softly. “Kurt. I am so, so sorry. Nothing happened to me. I’m alright.”

Kurt sniffled. “And the others?”

“No one was hurt, thankfully. Not one student or teacher. And we were safe in the choir room during the whole thing. We hid, and Mr. Shue and Coach Beiste kept us calm.”

“A-and how are you feeling?” Kurt asked, his voice shaking.

Blaine sighed quietly. “I’m good, Kurt. As I said, nothing happened to me.”

Kurt swallowed. “That’s not what I mean, I–“

“Can you not push me on this, please?” Blaine interrupted him, his voice sharp. “I’m. Fine.”

“Okay.” Kurt took a deep breath before he continued to speak. “I … it’s good to hear your voice. I missed it.”

Blaine chuckled. “Yeah, same.” He suddenly sounded calmer, more collected. “And the rest of the Glee club kinda does, too. You always added something to every number we did. Something special, unexpected. I wish we had you for Regionals. There is tough competition.”

“Oh, I’m sure you guys are gonna nail it.” Kurt answered.

“Hah. Yeah.”

They both went quiet. The apartment went quiet, too. The sudden change of subject had not sparked a longer conversation, like Blaine had probably intended. But Kurt could only guess how his ex-boyfriend felt right now, since he insisted on not addressing the issue that was still obviously burdening him.

“Well, I’m glad you called.” Blaine said on the other end of the line, breaking the silence.

A weight started to form on Kurt’s chest. It spread a cold all over his body. That couldn’t be it. He wasn’t done talking to Blaine; it wasn’t enough, not enough time, not enough words. “God, it’s so quiet here.” He whispered.

“Oh. Are Rachel and Santana not home?” Blaine immediately jumped at the opportunity, but somehow still completely missed. “Then you could play some music. Don’t you have that cool vintage record player? What about some Elton, I know for a fact you have a record of his greatest hits. Or Billy Joel?”

Kurt couldn’t breathe. One more second of this completely meaningless, mundane conversation, and the weight would crush him. Couldn’t Blaine see how much he was hurting? How much they were both hurting? How could he ramble about records or Regionals right now? Did it matter? Did any of it, _anything_ matter if one of them wasn’t okay?

“Blaine, stop, please!” Kurt managed, his tears starting to flow again. “Just stop, stop talking!”

“Wh-whats the matter?” Blaine’s voice shifted from mild excitement to soft confusion.

“It’s … it’s just so quiet.” Kurt cried. He didn’t know what else to say. 

“Well, okay, but am I not talking to you?”

“ _No_ , you’re not! Not really.” Kurt’s voice hitched, the words coming out harsher, more accusing than he’d intended them to.

Silence. Silence from the phone. Was Blaine going to hang up? Had he already? Silence. Silence everywhere.

Kurt closed his eyes. Parts of him couldn’t believe his evening had gone from a nightmare to a catastrophe. And other parts just wanted to disappear into the horrible, numbing silence around him. Hear nothing. Feel nothing.

But then, suddenly, there was a voice in his ear again. Blaine’s voice. He was singing, softly, muted.

_“Words like violence, break the silence. Come crashing in, into my little world.”_

They pulled Kurt out, the words. Pulled him out of his trance, and chased away the weight and the cold and the overwhelming feeling of helplessness. Blaine had always sounded enchanting. Right from the very first words of ‘Teenage Dream’ that he’d sung that day in the Dalton common rooms; his voice had been one of the most beautiful things Kurt had ever heard. But right now, he sounded like a miracle.

He heard Blaine playing along on the piano, too, in his skillful way, releasing every single note almost carefully. But maybe that was just his imagination. When Blaine skipped to the chorus of the song, Kurt joined in without even thinking.

_“All I ever wanted, all I ever needed was you, in my arms. Words are very unnecessary, they can only do harm.”_

He threw himself into the words, the sounds, the music. Let it consume him completely, just to get rid of the silence. And it worked. Blaine’s and his joined voices filled Kurt’s head, filled the apartment, filled Kurt’s entire world.

_“All I ever wanted, all I ever needed was you, in my arms.”_

When they finished the song, they both took a deep breath in unison. “Thank you.” Kurt said with a husky, but steady voice.

“I see what you did.” Blaine answered, laughing. Then, he started to sob quietly. “Thank you, Kurt. For the call. I didn’t want to talk about it, at first. But now I do. I want to talk about _everything_.”

“I understand.” Kurt whispered.

“I am so scared, I still am.” Blaine’s voice sounded heavy with tears and relief. “Is that normal? How can I go to school again tomorrow?”

“I don’t know.” Kurt muttered.

“Just thinking about what could have happened, I … I’m not sure if I can ever go back. I mean, how can I forget that sound? Every time I’m in the choir room, I’ll hear it. And these looks on the other’s faces … Sam, Artie … we all thought …”

“I don’t know.” Kurt repeated quietly. He had thought if they just talked, it would get better. But now he started to realize that he couldn’t help Blaine. He wasn’t a therapist, he wasn’t even there by his side, he was hundreds of miles away.

He had needed Blaine, but Blaine needed someone else right now.

“Did you talk to your parents?” Kurt asked softly.

Blaine sniffled. “No. They wanted to, but I said I needed space and they gave it to me. You are the first one I really opened up to about today, Kurt.”

Tears returned to Kurt’s eyes, tears of love and adoration. “You should talk to them. About everything. Talk all night if you have to. They want you to get better. I know it’ll help.” He said word after word, sentence after sentence, all while avoiding what he really wanted to say. _I love you._ _I want you. I need you in my life._

“I will. I promise.” Blaine said. “Kurt, thank you so much. I … I would give everything to hug you right now.”

“Me too.” Kurt answered without hesitating. His tears kept coming. (Gosh, all these tears. His eyes were definitely going to be puffy tomorrow. And ugh, what a nightmare to cover up that was going to be.) “And I meant what I said in the beginning, Blaine. You can call me whenever. You are very important to me, and …” He struggled for a second. “I couldn’t bear losing you.” _I love you._

“I really miss you.” Blaine said. “Do you think you can come to Lima for Regionals? McKinley is hosting. I’d be so happy to see you.”

“I’d like that.” _I still love you._

Blaine coughed. “I think I want to talk to Mom and Dad now. Thank you again, Kurt. Speaking with you helped me more than you’ll ever know.” 

Kurt swallowed, hard. “Goodbye, Blaine.” He whispered. Then the call ended.

“I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> The song they sing is "Enjoy The Silence" by Depeche Mode. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! <3 I'm always eager to improve my English, so if you noticed any mistakes, feel free to give me a heads-up!


End file.
